Peduto: "It is now our moment, our opportunity" (Video)

Using Heinz Hall as much for a debut performance as for warmth on a record cold day, Longtime City Council Member Bill Peduto was sworn in Monday afternoon as the 60th mayor of Pittsburgh.

“It’s a lot nicer in here than it would have been on Grant Street,” Peduto quipped as he took the podium on stage at Heinz Hall instead of outside of the City-County Building due to the cold temperatures.

With Joe Grushecky and the CAPA High School Choir performing Mr. Roger’s favorite “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” before he was sworn in, Peduto cast himself as a progressive reformer in his first official speech as the mayor of Pittsburgh.

“It is my job to turn this moment into an opportunity for reform,” Peduto said. He added: “There is nothing wrong with the institutions of this city that cannot be repaired by good faith, square dealing and hard work.”

Peduto spoke before a full Heinz Hall in the inaugural event. The audience included a full bipartisan delegation of state politicians, city and county council members and mayors past — or people representing them — that dated back to David L. Lawrence, the major mid-20th century mayor of Pittsburgh who lead its first renaissance.

“Let me be clear; the qualities that make a city successful are the same ones that make a city honest,” Peduto said.

Peduto looked back at Pittsburgh’s past and toward its future in his inauguration speech, expressing an obligation to future generations of Pittsburghers.

He emphasized that "Pittsburgh must do" rather than live in its industrial past. He also emphasized the city must maintain a sense of obligation to future generations, both in terms of overcoming the city’s debt and in the environmental stewardship that’s always been among his highest political priorities.

Peduto said it was time to see a new Pittsburgh that gleams and glows with revived neighborhoods, a renewed sense of possibility for its children and a better economy.

“It is now our moment, our opportunity; indeed it is our duty to create the next Pittsburgh,” Peduto said.